If you would kindly follow the above link and read the section entitled : “Multiple-Purpose Production Technology.”
Is it possible to know the exact size or general amount of specialization that is optimal in a market? Does it seem to anyone else that specialization is being attacked for its own sake here and some assumption of the best model for production in a free market is being made? While I agree that their exists great amounts of subsidy to businesses to lower costs such as distribution which in turn may bring focus and the degree of general specialization back down from where they currently exist in a non-free market, I cannot help bu think that such extreme generalized production would not be the norm in a free market either.
There also seems to be a lot of assumption that current businesses do not take such shipment or warehousing into account when weighing choices between local production or foreign production, which I think is totally false. There also does not seem to be room for speculation of consumer demand vs costs in storage/warehousing.
I am however only somewhat familiar with production methods such as lean manufacturing or concepts such as pull production.
I would just like to get others opinions on this. Something beyond just “I dont agree” or “I dont like Carson(agens)”
In the present, there are huge barries to entry for careers. This artificially increases specialization.
For example, I think that the income tax and ban on marijuana possession are illegitimate laws. If you’re the victim in a criminal trial, you can’t hire me to represent you and give a “jury nullification” defense. I don’t have a State law license, and therefore I’m barred from working as a lawyer. A State-licensed lawyer can’t present a “jury nullfication” defense, because he’d be stripped of his law license. A lawyer is sworn to “uphold the law”, so he can’t argue “this law is no good”.
I can’t work as an investment banker, because I need the right connections.
I can’t work as a car mechanic; you need a State license.
I can’t manufacture and sell cars, because of patents and the State has to approve cars for use on the road.
I can’t work as an accountant. I need a CPA license.
I can’t work as a university professor. I need to spend 5+ years getting a PhD.
I can’t work as a teacher. Getting a teaching license takes 2-3 years. (Although there’s such a shortage I can get a temporary job in a crappy school without a license.)
For practically every industry, there’s huge barriers to entry. I can’t experiment with different careers, because there’s a barrier to entry.
There are natural benefits to specialization. It probably takes 1-3 years to become an expert doctor, but not the 10+ years that the medical licensing cartel demands. You can’t look at the current market and draw conclusions, because the current market is nothing like a free market.